March 24, 2:06 pm: Scott Hairston is not feeling any pain in his injured oblique while swinging, and intends to take batting practice tomorrow, tweets Andy McCullough of the Star Ledger.

Hairston said during today’s broadcast he felt no pain at all during his swinging session.

In addition, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York says Andres Torres rode a bike and received treatment for his strained calf today, and said the injury is “not that bad.”

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March 23, 7:27 am: Andres Torres told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York that his calf injury is improving and, although he had no plans to run yesterday, he predicted he’d be back soon.

Torres left Tuesday night’s game with a calf strain, did not play Wednesday, at which point he was examined by team doctors, who determined he did not need an MRI, Rubin reported.

Hairston injured his oblique in an intrasquad game earlier this month and has not played in a Grapefruit League game since. He received four cortisone shots shortly thereafter, but had not made significant progress.

Michael Baron: If Hairston and Andres Torres can be ready for Opening Day, it eliminates a lot of issues both on the field and on the roster. It eliminates the risk of putting one or more players out of position, such as Jason Bay and/or Jordany Valdespin, and weakening their outfield defense in doing so. It also potentially eliminates the need to make a difficult decision with the 40-man roster and risking putting a player through waivers, especially if the need for such a change only serves to fill a short-term hole.